Discover stereotyped Mauritius differently
December 27, 2014
Chances are that you are one of many that believe you need to win the lottery first before you can travel to Mauritius. It’s one of the most common statements I get to hear in Germany. Or the only posters you have seen when walking past by a travel agency that showcased, when it was about Mauritius, only a few luxury hotels giving one the impression that this is the only holiday option you can choose from if you want to travel to the island. Maybe you have been to a travel fair in Berlin and seen a Mauritius stand presenting the island with Sega dancer and its resorts representatives. Is that all Mauritius has to offer you?
Is Mauritius only sun, beach and resorts?
While the billboards at your metro station will most likely never feature any holiday rentals that Mauritius has to offer, obviously as its to pricey, if ever you get to see a Mauritius ad, it will be most likely the one fitting with the stereotyped image of the island! …Sun, beach, resorts!
Yes, indeed it is true, Mauritius has magnificent beach locations, azure blue lagoons with top notch 5 star luxury hotels which come with very high class services and standards which often surpass many other 5 star resorts around the world.
Your travel agency catalogue will most certainly present you the islands top resorts which come at various prices, packages etc. Maybe a page where your attention will be captivated for a moment to look at these beautiful photos and dream… someday… maybe when I get rich I’ll go to Mauritius… Is Mauritius only for the rich?
Hotels using Social Media in Mauritius
December 9, 2014
I’ve gotten acquainted with Social Media over these last 6 years while practising online marketing for my holiday rentals agency Isla-Mauricia. I use it on a regular basis to present Mauritius and our offers and I tried a lot of approaches to increase my follower base and engagement with fans. I’ve learned along the way things that work, things that don’t work and developed a passion for this arena. One of my favourite tools remains Google+ and Twitter. Especially on Google+ the hangout sessions with professionals from whom you can learn a lot and directly chat with them is an awesome experience. I do not neglect Facebook which one cannot ignore amongst various other social media platforms which has proven itself for us to be the ideal platform in reaching out to our fans in France which would be practically impossible on Google+. Each social media platform has its specificities and what you can do on Facebook you might not similarly be able to do on Google+ nor have similar results. They all require their time for you to understand how you can use it to present your business and achieve engagement with your followers, gain new followers and new customers! And country wise follower bases also vary, in some countries a large amount of the population will use more Facebook while in others they might be using other platforms. Behold that social media differs from SEO (search engine optimisation), SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and things like running an adwords campaign on Google. I will not write about SEO, SEM, and Adwords in this article.
Discovering Social Media, spending time on it, has made me realise that it is huge, it is not something where you become an expert overnight, nor one year; even if you are a heavy user. It also depends what are you doing on social media? Being an avid private user doesn’t guarantee you yet to be an excellent advocate for a company in public.
You really need to learn, study from the experts, engage with them to learn how it works. Its a never ending learning process and the moment where you think you know Social Media, you will be surprised that you might just have hit the tip of the Ice Berg!
Is a greener Mauritius possible?
December 7, 2014
I just finished reading the book Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman which speaks about global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the expansion of the world’s middle class through globalization which have produced a dangerously unstable planet–one that is “hot, flat, and crowded.” He also shows how the very habits that led us to ravage the natural world led to the meltdown of the financial markets and the Great Recession. The challenge of a sustainable way of life presents the United States with an opportunity not only to rebuild its economy, but to lead the world in radically innovating toward cleaner energy. And it could inspire Americans to something they haven’t seen in a long time–nation-building in America–by summoning the intelligence, creativity, and concern for the common good that are their greatest national resources.
This book is a concern not only for USA but the world and he does also speak about China and ways they are implementing to become more greener. The book has details that go till the year 2008 and I wonder now that we are close to 2015 how things have worsened or improved. For the US I can only recall electric cars made by Tesla. Else I’m not aware of any green revolution taking place? Can you add some infos in comments at the bottom if you know of any great green projects taking place in the USA? Just yesterday I saw someone on Twitter post how happy she was to get a gallon of gas for just $1.99. Now that doesn’t go in line of a green revolution!
Hotels in Mauritius now compete with Guest houses, Beach Villas and Luxury Apartments
December 7, 2014
In my previous articles I have addressed the challenges which holiday rental agencies in Mauritius are currently facing and how they can expect a deterioration in their mode of operations if they do not handle quick in reinventing themselves or cut down costs drastically!
I have mentioned previously that for most owners of beach villas and apartments that they should still be doing fine as they can use other methods of doing their own advertising than going through an agency. Even though agencies play an important role, the landlords and clients can eliminate the middleman who is the agent by buying and selling directly, which is now easily possible on the internet.
Hotels in Mauritius competing with Guest Houses
When it comes to tourism, my articles usually resolve around the theme of agencies and vacation rentals but do not address much Hotels in Mauritius. Now, the drastic sales measures that hotels in Mauritius have implemented is bringing results and these results might on one side be filling rooms for some, while some other structures are standing empty. This topic has been on my mind for a while but I wasn’t yet aware how serious this impact currently already is and how many part takers of the industry have been influenced to face a change in the scenery of how once tourism was running in the sense of occupancy and profit after turnover.
Mauritius Tourism – Does the tourism industry need a wake up slap!?
November 5, 2014
Many have already been woken up by the slap of negative figures while some are starting to rejoice in profits of restructuring they have carried out. Our industry in tourism is definitely wide awake. Arrivals from new markets are making itself seen and felt. But in which direction is it steering or are we still dreaming and waiting for better times?
At the end of the article I will share a small tip to those who are running small agencies and who feel like facing the wall of china when trying to collaborate with resorts. A tip I haven’t mentioned in my other previous articles. This article is mainly an introduction to my articles I have written around the subject of holiday rentals in Mauritius and the tourism industry around this subject and the challenges small tour operators face when trying to collaborate with hotels and their TO and public rates policies.
My articles are also interesting for not only those who already work in this industry but also for those aspiring to get started. When I started 7 years back, inexperienced in this area, I wished I had some of the guidelines which I have published to give me a better perspective of this industry.
→ My first article deals with the holiday home rental agencies future in Mauritius.
Since I have been running my own agency since several years and facing various challenges I share my point of views of what scenarios to expect for agencies who especially depend a lot on the online channel.
→ My second article addresses the subject of what costs to expect when starting your own holiday rentals agency in Mauritius.
Out of my own experience I list costs that you have to face when you run a holiday rentals agency. Since regulations of fees constantly change some of my listed figures might not reflect the new decision of the Tourism Authority on how they will regulate the new fees of the Tour Operators licence since the trade fees have been introduced in 2014 which they are trying to balance out so that you don’t end up paying both the TO licence and the trade fees which will amount up to Rs.19 000. A good article for those in the business to check if you missed out on some fees and for others who are interested in running their own agency. Budgeting is an important factor before you just get launched.
→ My third article is about changes in the landscape of holiday rental agencies in Mauritius.
Many agencies in Mauritius are running out of business, closing down, restructuring, having to down size, practice layoffs and what was once a main business income turns into a side business income. I also go a bit more into details how other areas in this industry run and are affected. There aren’t only losers but also winners.
→ My fourth article speaks about how to renew your tour operators licence in Mauritius.
Every year this licence needs to be renewed and comes with some paper work. Try to be efficient so that you can reduce the amount of times you need to travel to Port-Louis. In this article I outline currently what you need to do when you need to renew your licence.
→ My fifth article speaks about TDS which stands for Tax Deduction at Source.
Since in the past many landlords asked me questions about TDS I decided to compile an article around this subject. If you have no clue what TDS is, this article can be an introduction. TDS is ofcourse way more vast, I will share links in that article where you can find further information.
Back to the little tip I mentioned above I was going to enlighten you of. While in my previous articles I address various challenges that you will face or that agencies are going through, I haven’t mentioned for instances solutions for every obstacle that you might face. For some cases its obvious and for others it will require experience how you work your way through in the tourism sector. And there isn’t a solution that just fixes all issues as this sector is complex. If you are a small agency having a lot of trouble selling hotel rooms and feeling like you are facing the wall of china when contacting hotels directly. I advise you to collaborate with a bigger local tour operator who can pass on to you their tour operator buying rates. Why would it be interesting for them to do that? Even though they pass on these rates to you, they can still benefit on a commission which is often at around 5%. They might also charge you a per person handling fee which will be minor but in this way you can access TO rates through them. Hotels will be more interested in collaborating with you when you can offer them a certain amount of volume.
How to apply TDS Tax Deduction at Source for Tour Operators and Holiday Rental agents in Mauritius
September 27, 2014
By now all those in the tourism industry since the 15th of December 2011 should know how TDS works. I made a small tutorial back then for my partners that collaborate with my agency Isla-Mauricia to get an overview of how TDS works and it has brought in additional steps to process when you handle payments. This article might also be useful for those aspiring to work directly with landlords as a holiday rental agency, property manager or property owners by setting up their own villa rental agency. If you own a property and you wish to rent it to tourists you will need to apply for a tourist enterprise licence at the tourism authority and when you collaborate with local agencies in Mauritius they will have to pay your TDS directly to the MRA. More to that in my article below.
By the way, TDS applies on many other types of goods and services in Mauritius. My article only addresses tour operators, agents and tourism rental properties. I have added a link at the bottom of the article of the MRA which covers TDS more in depth. It’s good to have a look and to know. Just an example why, did you know that: “Payments made to a non-resident for any services rendered in Mauritius pursuant to section 111B(h) of the Income Tax Act” is 10%.
When TDS was introduced, it made quite some work for many. I worked out a solution with my programmer which does all the calculations for me in my backend system in which I process reservations for bookings of beach villas and apartments. TDS actually has resulted in me having quite some costs in handling it! And also it requires you to spend additional time processing it, just like VAT.
How to renew your Tour Operators licence in Mauritius
September 27, 2014
Update:
20.10.16
My article below dates back to the year 27.09.2014. A few things have changed again and actually the steps to do your renewal are back like it used to be. The trade fee has been cancelled.
So in order to do your renewal you will need to:
Before going to the Tourism Authority
1. Renew your public liability so that it covers the whole of the next following year.
2. Print out a letter that states that there is no change in the shareholding structure of your company. It should be a letter that carries the letter head of your company and must be stamped + signed.
Once you have done point 1 & 2 you can go to the Tourism Authority for renewal. I suggest you to go 2-3 months before your licence expires. Then you will have less waiting time.
What to take along when you go to the Tourism Authority?
1. Public liability insurance policy that clearly states the name of your company and coverage period.
2. Your letter that states that there is no change in the shareholding structure of your company. It should be a letter that carries the letter head of your company and must be stamped + signed.
3. Your old tour operator licence.
4. Cheque book, credit card or cash of Rs.11 000.
For point 2 you can use this as a template:
Tourism Authority
For the DIRECTOR
1st Floor, Victoria House
Corner Barracks and St.Louis Street
Port-Louis
MauritiusDate: _________________
Subject: Renewal of Tour Operators licenceDear Director of the Tourism Authority,
this is to confirm that there is no change in the shareholding structure of Your Company Name Ltd. The only shareholder is still the Managing Director of the company, bearing name Your Name and ID No. Your ID No.. The secretary of the company is still Name of Secretary.Yours Sincerely,
_______________________________________
Your Name
The article below can be interesting to review for learning purposes and it does also include steps and a template how to request a certified copy of your annual return from the companies division which displays who is the current share holder of the company. You will have to request that if there have been changes in your shareholding structure.
Else for additional accuracy I recommend you to also contact the Tourism Authority if you have questions and you can find a lot of infos on their websites:
→ Mauritius Tourism Authority official website
→ (Old website) The Mauritius Tourism Authority official website
As a tour operator in Mauritius, every year you need to renew your licence at the tourism authority based in Port-Louis, Mauritius. It involves several steps and procedures and you are required to go to Port-Louis a minimum of two times. I’ll outline that a bit later in my article. To get your licence renewed, you also need to pay and apply for various other documents, else you won’t get your renewal!
Those that have done business in Mauritius from abroad and living here, know that the island in its constant aim of progress; quite often changes its rules and regulations how such application procedures and renewals are handled. Never the less, you will still, every year, require to invest a bit of time, effort and transportation to get all what they require in your act together for submission. And even if you do everything precise, someone at some counter will make some comment that this or that isn’t right but however often a solution is provided or the latter is resolved.
Tour Operators Licence of IM Travel Services Ltd. which runs Isla-Mauricia
This is what SEO talk sounds like when 5 experts meet
August 31, 2014
Yesterday I had a look at this recorded hangout on air embedded below of “How Does Google Determine Content Quality? How Would You?” whicht hosted the following five speakers:
+Eric Enge, +Bill Slawski, +Ammon Johns, +David Harry, +Mark Traphagen
I have seen those guys speak in various other recorded HoAs and their discussions always deliver a series of goodies and take aways (in the sense of their conclusions and research work around SEO) for the ones interested about SEO and the arts of online marketing.
While for many; SEO is believed to be just link building, getting the content and titles of their pages right. Have a look at this discussion and discover the depths of SEO and its technical aspect. The panda update was mentioned several times. It’s been since a long time that I don’t follow up on Google updates any more, once upon a time when there were still those Google dances… Following these guys gets you quickly back on track.
My first expectation of their discussion; was it going to be the revelation how you create a high quality page? It turned out more to be what are the different aspects Google looks at to determine quality and how search results differ depending to various criteria such as the intent of the search, the time it was done. Some great examples where also mentioned such as sport games – how these results differ depending at what time you are doing your search.
These are my notes of their discussion round:
High quality site algorithm
Patterns (Points attribution or content quality scores. User behaviour being observed by quality raters to notice some patterns.)
Signals of low quality
Quality raters
Identifying domain place holder pages, content farms, link pages
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Changes in the landscape of holiday rental agencies in Mauritius
August 16, 2014
This year has been a -and still is going to be a very challenging year for many holiday rental agencies in Mauritius. When I speak of holiday rental agencies in general, I mean those that act as an intermediary in proposing beach villas and apartments on their websites usually holding a tour operators licence obtained by the Mauritius Tourism Authority. There is a difference to the tasks performed by property managers who do maintenance work on site, receive clients and have exclusivity in re-marketing those units through a network of agencies with whom they collaborate. Some of these market their offers through my Isla-Mauricia holiday rentals agency websites.
To run a holiday rental agency in Mauritius means you are operating in an ever growing competitive market. The more costs you have, the bigger your team is, the more hard you will be hit once the low season strikes and if your bookings start becoming less and less. A situation I had to face myself since last November 2013. I experienced a sudden decline in bookings. November, usually one of my best months performed very badly and this trend remained on going till May. June and July have been satisfactory and I’m currently observing the month of August there are still 15 days to go and I hope for this month to end stable which could be a sign for recovery and the year ending positively. Though I speak for my own situation, it could be completely different for others.
Changes in the landscape of holiday rental agencies in Mauritius
I faced for the first time in my life this year the challenge of laying off my team that had grown to be like a family. This could make for another blog post in the context of challenges an entrepreneur faces and how to lay off and say good bye – its over!
There are various theories, scenarios that you can study, or try to put into practice but reality often has its surprises taking you off guard and handing you a slap! A slap to wake up or a slap to make you cry. When money talks, it can get “brutal”. Deal with banks and you will see, there is no love, no heart, no passion – just the figures that matter – the rest is just acting to get your business. From smile to the dagger into your back. This wasn’t my case but this is what you could face when laying off since its a very sensitive issue.
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Yifat Cohen & Jason T. Wiser Google+ Strategies – How to master hashtags and decipher authority signals
August 14, 2014
Yesterday night I spent a while watching those two recorded hangout on air (HoA) sessions of Jason T. Wiser and Yifat Cohen. I decided to give it a night and let it sink in and reflect before I make my personal article of what spoke to me the most from their presentation. I must also add that sometimes watching various HoA relating to the subject of social media and marketing that some terms take a while to sink in. While David Amerland has mentioned so often in his presentations the term instant gratification – it’s only now after hearing it again and trying to access some links that this made a tick realising that yes indeed this is what I or we have turned into. We want things now, and with the least clicks possible.
Yifat Cohen – Jaston T. Wiser – Get On Track Stay On Track – More Yifat Cohen G+ Tips, Tricks, and Strategies for Your Small Business
I have been on many websites in the past, and you know those long pages which tell you stories over stories where at the end in order to get what you want you must pay to get the answer. When I see opt in offers on websites, it’s usually what I expect – a smart content scheme to entice me to give my credentials in order to get something for free where halfway through I must then pay. Meaning this has led me to doubt opt in pages. That’s why; the LEAST I have to click away from a network, the more I prefer it. This is what is so great about hangouts on Google+ you do get professional information for free. It is a different form of University where you make up your own studies, get access to experts, get to ask them questions. On top its fun!
Digital Shopping Tool Impact Study – how to improve your tools performance?
August 9, 2014
Purchase decisions – How and why people shop and buy
What are digital shopping tools was the first question I had when I saw the interview title of Jason T. Wiser Google+ hangout on air. This question gets answered by Kim Finnerty in more details in their discussion round that you should watch if you are running a business online. At first I thought it is some sort of analytics tool or stats. Actually it can be anything from a search engine to a mobile payment program.
Digital Shopping Tool Impact Study by #OnTrackTips
Whenever I watch any of these interviews I’m on the lookout for the jewel information which I can put into practice for my own Mauritius Holiday Rentals business for my agency Isla-Mauricia. What spoke out to me the most is the topic regarding reviews and you will note that my transcript which is a break up of their discussion below also mentions that reviews generate very high conversion rates. Even though this video dates back to the year 2013 you will see in this Google+ post which I have reshared recently from Jason T. Wiser which dates back to the 4th of August where he gives a good advice about linking to your Google+ reviews.
Mauritius Charcuterie Fresh or Frozen Meat Products supplier of 5 Star hotels De Lapeyre Ltd.
August 4, 2014
Whether its pickled specialities, a smoked chicken or roasted ham – De Lapeyre Ltd. is your partner of choice for your local charcuterie meat products in Mauritius.
Charcuterie Mauritius De Lapeyre Ltd.
They have their own savoir faire, authentic recipes and traditional techniques practised since over 30 years.
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What costs to expect when starting your own holiday rentals agency or tour operator services in Mauritius?
August 3, 2014
In my first article in my blog I wrote in depth about “What are the future outlooks of agencies in the holiday home rentals industry of Mauritius?” My article is quite long and covers in a whole how to get started and what challenges you will face. I also address my own pessimistic view of the industry and if you are considering to get started you should read that. What I didn’t address in my previous article are the costs that you will encounter.
Costs of running a vacation rentals business in Mauritius
In this article I will give an approximate overview of costs that you will have to face if you wish to launch professionally your own company that offers vacation rentals and other tourism related services. When I got started I didn’t know which costs to expect. I hope this article will help you in your planning and also to get a clear overview if your idea is realistic to get started in this industry.
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Christopher Ahlberg: I Know What You’ll Do Next Summer – Pioneers Festival 2013
July 5, 2014
Recorded Future is a web intelligence software platform that helps companies anticipate threats and capitalize on opportunities.
A fascinating software and start up company that can come to conclusions with the analysis of the large amount of data which is openly available on the world wide web. It does make one curious how a company can tap and harness into such information and come up with various results. Looking into the potential of what the future in a certain spectrum might be holding.
In this video Milo Yiannopoulos from The Kernel at Pioneer interviews Christopher Ahlberg founder of Recorded Future in a short compact 21 minutes session.
If you like subjects such as Big Data, Web Intelligence and organisation of data, analysis and giving it structure – before diving into the video you can have an idea what Recorded Future does here → https://www.recordedfuture.com/web-intelligence/
Hiking North East Mauritius – Roches Noires Caves, Bras d’eau forest till Poste Lafayette beach – Pat Loisirs
June 24, 2014
Level 1 hike. Not tough, easy go for amateurs.
Track we did was around 10Km.
We started at the village of Rivière du Rempart — Old Railway Track — Caves of Roches Noires — Mauritius Radio Telescope — Mango Orchard — Bras D’eau Visitor’s Centre — Bras D’eau Trail — and ended at Poste La Fayette beach.
Climbing through the caves of Mauritius left by volcanic activity is like witnessing the foundation and construction of Mauritius. It does look a bit like concrete bays without the proper lighting.
Mauritius Roches Noires caves – photo by Annika Schöbe
We start the day from Grand Baie and meet up with the hikers group of the club Pat Loisirs in the centre of Riviere du Rempart. On a Sunday morning it is quite busy there. If you are looking for a parking, town centre might not be ideal – you might also consider parking a bit more before at the town entrance if coming from Roches Noires. Our meeting point is set at the Shell filling station. The road that will be our starting point also goes past by that filling station. We parked the car a bit more further away just before that narrow bridge which you can cross and that leads directly to the caves. The people there are friendly and we asked them if we can park close to their property which they approved.
What does Constat à l’amiable mean? Driving and Accidents in Mauritius
June 21, 2014
When it comes to driving in Mauritius, various informations, laws, theories and facts seem to come gradually over the years as you gain more and more experience. Whether you just got your driving licence, or moved to Mauritius you will definitely have some questions to what you must abide to when you drive here and some questions will pop up when its hopefully not to late! In this article I will address what is a “Constat à l’amiable” (something I was pondering upon and about which I posted here on Google+) and a few other points on which I will extend with an introduction of some general information that is good to know of!
Constat a lamiable in Mauritius
Like any other country, Mauritius has a set of laws to which car drivers must abide and respect. Even if the island appears exotic and a bit laid back, there is no leniency when it comes to rules and they will be applied and not looked over. You should definitely NOT try to bribe a policeman!
Therefore car drivers that do not respect the law are not acts for you to imitate or follow. I’m mentioning this for the case that if you are new to Mauritius and think you need to follow a certain driving style – just be careful! Yes, many drivers will still overtake a bus even though there is a white line for example. It doesn’t mean you should do that…
Stick to the rules. Sooner or later they will get caught and pay heavy fines. Speeding alone can cost you around Rs.2000. Considering that its only a small moment of excess speed pressing on the accelerator – those fines can definitely hurt your monthly budget and you will receive demerit points!
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How to suck it up to get an influencers attention – but why would you do that?
May 7, 2014
Yesterday night I watched this recorded Google+ hangout on air (abbreviation: HoA) #TNTBootcamp – Influence Marketing Techniques & David Amerland which was hosted by Ronnie Bincer & Christine DeGRaff who run the Hangout Helper series who had as their guest speaker David Amerland. I have named the title of this post according to what was mentioned in the video and made reference to Martin Shevington – this mentioning made the biggest impact on me because it was so straightforward and quite clear that this is a challenging scenario many new comers look up to. …Because its now possible on Google+ network like it has never been before!
It’s been a while that I haven’t watched any HoAs with David Amerland and I truly missed them for a while so I decided to catch up again yesterday.
When it comes to the topics of semantics, connections and the future of search this is one of my favourite resource and influencer to get study material from. David has recently published a new book called Google+ Hangouts for Business: How to use Google+ Hangouts to Improve Brand Impact, Build Business and Communicate in Real-Time. I haven’t read it yet but you can also check what I posted about his previous book which also fits in very well in relationship to this video and topic: How I was influenced via a Google+ Hangout Video to make a purchase
Google plus Hangouts for Business
The presentations of David Amerland are information laden meaning his material is worth several reviews at times. By reviews I mean to re-watch his presentations several times.
I believe that the logic behind semantic search is not only Google related but albeit the future of search itself. It might also be good to have several search engines for a better eco system and avoiding a monopole. If one search engine desires to become an answering machine, we users might still not necessarily at times require an answer but just plain results to choose form and create our own answer. Maybe the search giant will provide various options – they are smart, they will want to keep you glued to their system.
The market out there doesn’t belong to just one company -changes can occur, nowadays even faster than you would expect! Who knows someday a new search giant might surface! Maybe there is a search company out there that will master semantics at a point no one has ever seen and create a new wave of people switching their well known tools in accepting a new one. You remember the days when Google suddenly surfaced with just a simply entry field and search button? Maybe privacy, control and surveillance will freak out nations to adopt a new data supplier…
Starting your website or blog with WordPress as CMS
May 6, 2014
I recently watch a recorded Google+ hangout called Working With WordPress invited by Kristin Drysdale a friend whom I got to know on Google+ and who keeps me in the loop of great events on Google+. This is also what makes the network so special, the new people that you get to know and connect with on Google+
The informative presentation was hosted by Craig Chamberlin (whose Google+ profile has a stunning +128 Million views!) who chatted with Robert Ryan on the theme regarding working with WordPress. I took some notes of their discussions and Google+ always proves to be a great resource when it comes learning new techniques, tricks and tips from the pros. I still consider a one hour show worth it if even you learned something new that was revealed to you by something you didn’t know of but which took only maybe a minute.
WordPress as CMS
On a whole I would say that this video is not a starting guide for beginners (but good for beginners to have a look at and re-watch 6 months later if you are starting your blog now!) who have no basic knowledge at all of how to install a website with WordPress. It does tackle a few definitions such as “What is WordPress” which I have covered below but the remaining shared discussion is good food for someone that has already used WordPress for a while and gives insights about various marketing techniques and a bunch of mistakes we all tend to do that should be avoided such as excessive tags and connecting a post with to many categories leading to duplicate content. Yet alone have I been doing quite a few mistakes for years on Google+ when it comes to sharing my posts to the right circles – one to often might assume to be doing the right thing but is actually doing it wrong. Learning and listening to other experts in the industry can be such an eye opener for improving what you do.
Their discussion gave me some inspiration to also write about my experience regarding WordPress.
The Power of Brand Evangelism with Guy Kawasaki hosted by Jason T. Wiser
May 3, 2014
In this recorded Google+ hangout Jason T. Wiser interviews Guy Kawasaki (His Google+ has a stunning count of more than 370 Million views!) and Peg Fitzpatrick. In a simple way you can get to know what differentiates a brand evangelist from a sales person and various other attributes about a brand evangelist. As currently I was looking for material on the theme of branding this interview came in very handy. I have came across the blog of Guy Kawasaki several years ago where he offered various free downloads of his presentations. What I really liked in this recorded Google+ hangout was this part when he mentioned: “Evangelism can be used for various things but you also need to believe in what you are selling. To position helping people achieve security, peace of mind, satisfaction – its more about these soft goals. It’s not just about making a buck! Within this parameter you can apply evangelism. But evangelism isn’t the only way.” This is the very same essence of what he also used to say many back years then which impressed me and also gave my perception on entrepreneurship a complete different view and also a big lesson!
Unlock The Power Of Brand Evangelism
In this recorded Google+ hangout Guy Kawasaki also speaks of Canva for which he is now an evangelist. I have made notes of the interview from which many of you can learn. The link to the recorded Google+ hangout of On Track Tipps by Jason T. Wiser.
In a sum up, you need to have an awesome product that you love! If you have a crappy product you will have a tough time evangelising people about it! I also like the tipps Guy Kawasaki gave about recruiting. Is the person you are recruiting infected by your product? Check out for more below.